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If you want an organic orchard in New Hampshire, you have to get used to some pretty funky looking fruit. The worst pest I have to contend with is the plum curculio, a small weevil that does big damage. There’s scarcely a fruit I grow that’s impervious to curuculio, and the few organic controls available for the pests are labor intensive and not terribly effective. Some fruits, though, do a better job than others of standing up to the little buggers.

For instance, they seem to hate fuzzy skin, so peaches do pretty well for me, as do furry varieties of quince. Too, seeded fruits, such as pears and apples, while they don’t like curculio eggs, are more stubborn hangers-on than their stone-fruits. Curculio just make them a little gnarly-looking, and sometimes cause small, hard spots in the flesh. Such damage can be annoying when biting into a fresh apple or pear, but is easy to work around when cooking.

It’ll be a few weeks before the best varieties of apples, like my favorite, Northern Spies, are ready to pick. But pears, unlike apples, are best picked before they are completely ripe. Indeed, if you leave a pear to ripen on the tree, it will turn to a mealy mess within a day or two of picking. Pears should be harvested when they’ve begun to sweeten, but are still a little hard and green, and then kept cold until you’re ready to let them ripen at room temperature. For this reason, pears can be stored a long time without losing quality and are one of the best fruits to buy fresh at the supermarket

In my orchard, I begin harvesting Bartlett pears in mid-August, move onto tiny Seckel pears by the end of the month and finish the season in September, with my favorites - crunchy, russet-skinned Bosc pears. I store all of them in an old refrigerator in the barn, where they’ll keep just fine while I deal with the tetchier fruits and vegetables in my harvest, like tomatoes and peppers and herbs, the ones that have to be picked ripe and processed immediately.

That said, it’s hard to resist the buttery, juicy Bartletts, the sharp-sweet Seckels and the elegant Boscs for too long – I always seem to have a few out on the counter feeding the fruit flies as I wait for them to become perfectly ripe.

In our house, as often as not, pears wind up in savory dishes as well as sweet ones. They’re more delicately flavored than apples, I think, and so more easily paired with herbs and greens.

Though pears are delicious raw, cooking them develops their sugars into caramels, softens them a little and keeps them from going brown. Too, they readily absorb the colors and flavors of what they’re cooked with; just be sure you don’t add anything too assertive, like garlic, or you’ll wipe out their delicate taste.

This recipe is particularly delicious with some of the bitter greens that are planted in July and come into their own now. Try frisee and the Italian green called radichetta if you can find them at the farmer’s market – they balance the sweetness of the caramelized pears perfectly. And if you don’t have fresh rosemary on hand, use dried instead – its flavor, fresh or dried, is an essential part of this dish.

Honey and Rosemary Caramelized Pears with Greens and Blue Cheese (serves 4)

1 Tbs. butter or oil (I like grapeseed, but olive oil works well, too)

¼ cup honey

1 small sprig of rosemary + 1/4 tsp. minced fresh rosemary leaves (or use ½ tsp. dried, divided between the pan and the salad dressing)

3 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and cut into ¼” slices

1 lg. shallot, peeled and minced, about 2 Tbs. (you may substitute minced onion)

2 Tbs. cider vinegar

1/3 cup mild oil, like grape-seed

salt and pepper to taste

4 ounces blue cheese

salad greens, washed and dried, enough for four people, about 8 loosely packed cups

Heat a saute pan, pour in the oil and then throw in the sprig of rosemary, Pour in the honey and then arrange the pears in one layer in the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium heat until brown on one side and then flip them over to brown on the other side. Remove the pears and set aside to cool. Discard the rosemary sprig

In the same pan, cook the shallots for a minute without letting them brown, then pour in the vinegar to deglaze the pan, stirring with a spoon to scrape up the bits of honey from the bottom of the pan. Let the mixture cook for a minute, then pour it into a small bowl, scraping out the pan to get all the juices, and allow the mixture to cool.

Meanwhile, cut or crumble the blue cheese. When the vinegar mixture is cool, whisk in the oil, rosemary and salt and pepper to taste. Toss the greens with the dressing, and then divide the greens between four plates. Arrange the pears on the greens and then spoon the blue cheese onto the pears. Serve immediately.

The pear-poaching liquid can be endlessly varied. Often half wine and half water is used, citrus zest is added, along with spices such as cinnamon sticks, star anise or fresh ginger. This version is stripped down and, with the exception of the sugar, uses ingredients that can be produced locally. The result is a pastel-tinted pear sitting in a delicately flavored, garnet-hued sauce.

Pears Poached with Purple Basil

6 pears, firm-ripe (Bosc works very well for this, but slightly any other kind of pear that is slightly under-ripe will work, too).

1 cup sugar

3 cups water

1 bunch purple basil (you may substitute green basil, but it won’t be as pretty)

1-2 Tbs. cider vinegar (to taste)

Put the water, sugar, and basil into a large pot and bring it to a simmer. Meanwhile, peel the pears, leaving the stem on. As each pear is peeled, drop it into the poaching water so that it doesn’t go brown. Simmer the pears very gently, turning now and then, until a small knife can be inserted easily into the flesh, about ½ hour. Don’t allow them to overcook or they will be mushy. When the pears are done, remove them from the liquid and set aside. Reduce the poaching liquid until it is syrupy – you will have about ½-1 cup of liquid. Stir in the cider vinegar to taste. Serve the pears with some of the poaching syrup served over the top. These can be prepared ahead and stored in the poaching syrup for several days.